1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to stitching material products, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for binding edges of material products.
2. Related Art
For years, edge-finishing processes for binding the edges of high-quality material products or textiles such as wash cloths, towels and rugs had been performed manually, due to the attention to detail that is required. The edges of a wash cloth, for example, must be sewn to prevent fraying and to produce a desirable and lasting product. U.S. Pat. No. 1,049,119 to McCollum illustrates a manual finishing process whereby an individual material product is cut from a strip of material, and a binding strip is manually folded around the raw ends of the material in preparation for manually sewing the binding strip to the edge of the material product. This process is labor-intensive and time consuming.
Several attempts have been made to automate the edge-finishing process for material products. Attempts to automate edge-finishing processes include U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,942 to Stewart et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,002 to Brocklehurst. Each of these patents are directed to a method and apparatus for finishing edge portions of a fabric with an over edge stitch. Thus, the apparatuses in the Stewart et al. and Brocklehurst patents depend on the thread to cover the edge of a material product in such a manner as to keep fraying threads (e.g., terry loops) from protruding through the stitching. In order to accomplish this, the number of stitches per inch, or stitch count, must be increased, and/or the thread thickness (denier) must be increased in order to provide adequate coverage of the edge of the cloth. Accordingly, a result of these conventional edge-finishing processes is increased cost to the end user, since the apparatuses require increased sewing head speeds. The increased sewing speeds, lead to excess wear on the related sewing head parts, as well as increased thread costs, based on consumption and thickness. Thus, as an end result, costs are transferred on to the consumer. What is desired is a method and apparatus to permanently and efficiently bind the edges of a material product, such that the binding strip (e.g., binding tape) and thread are prevented from unraveling or protruding through the stitching.